Interesting Internships

Several Jackrabbits explored different fields this summer

Parker Bailey, a senior precision agriculture major, interned with the South Dakota Highway Patrol and was given the opportunity to spend time at an organization event special to him: the South Dakota Highway Patrol Youth Trooper Academy. 

“It was weird, a different feeling,” the Gayville native said of being at the youth trooper academy. “But I’d say it probably was one of the best feelings in the world as I was able to give back to the academy, which has helped shape my life. I was only there a couple of hours this time, but I left knowing I had left a positive impact on the program, was able to make new connections and help educate youth from across the state.”

Bailey was also able to do multiple ride-alongs with the Brookings, Vermillion, Mitchell and Sioux Falls squads, which offered fun, educational and interesting experiences.

“You get to see things from a different point of view,” he said. “Normally, when you’re out on the road, you’re just trying to get from point A to point B. But when you’re working in law enforcement, you’re out there working to promote safety, establish positive connections with the community, as well as help those who need assistance.”

The experience helped Bailey narrow what he wants to do after graduation. He is currently applying with the Highway Patrol, and if chosen, he will begin his 13 weeks of training at the Law Enforcement Training Center in Pierre. He would also receive 11 weeks of Highway Patrol training. To complete his initial training, he would spend 10 weeks in field training across the state.

Bailey Dergan, a senior electrical engineering major, worked in Minneapolis with Medtronic in its neuromodulation division. Though some of her work was deemed confidential, her main assignment included working with signal processing for their deep brain stimulation devices.

“I’ve really liked learning about the technology that I’m working on,” said the native of Omaha, Nebraska. “It’s called ‘sensing,’ which is like measuring brain signals. They’re called local field potentials or LFP for short. I’ve been able to work on that and do signal processing on those super low-level signals, so that’s been my favorite stuff to learn.”

Dergan explained one of the interesting things about her internship was that some of the products she worked on help those who suffer from tremors, like with epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease. 

“I didn’t know that electrical stimulation could help with diseases like that or neuro diseases at all,” she said. “I think it’s really cool that we’re able to help out people with electricity.”

Her time spent with the medical device company opened the door for new experiences like living in a new city, going into an office and meeting new people from different backgrounds and ages. It also helped solidify future career plans for Dergan.

“I kind of always knew I wanted to go into the biomedical engineering side of it,” Dergan said. “But I think this summer working at a biomedical engineering company has really solidified that and directed me toward going into industry rather than going to grad school.”

Jessica Rau, a senior mechanical engineering major, did an internship with Henkel Inc. in Brandon. 

She explained the global company is involved with the production of iPhone or Apple laptop’s thermal interface materials, but her summer was spent helping in various ways in the manufacturing plant.

“It’s been cool because I’ve been able to do a lot of different things,” she said. “It’s a big company so I’ve gotten to work on and help out with projects with a lot of different things, whether it’s data entry or getting experience in our labs.”

Aside from being able to work on a wide spectrum of projects and materials, Rau said that one of the best parts of her internship was being able to interact with her co-workers.

“Everybody has been so nice and welcoming and it’s so cool to see because the company environment is awesome,” she said. “Learning about the culture has been my favorite part. Even though I’m the only girl on the engineering team, they’re all super nice and friendly and super welcoming. I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Rau also said her time with Henkel will greatly help with her final year at State and her future career.

“No matter how hard a college prepares you for your future, it can’t give you the same experience of working in an environment like that,” she said. “One of my classes was very project based and I really liked that class because of it. I think my internship has made me realize that it’s that type of class that is going to prepare me the most for working.”